Journey to the Savage Planet

Genre: First-Person Shooter / Metroidvania

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local Wireless, Online)

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Review:

Journey to the Savage Planet is a First-Person Metroidvania that combines the gameplay of Metroid Prime, the resource-collecting of a game like No Man’s Sky, and a sense of humor right out of a game like Fallout or Outer Worlds. This game was originally released on multiple platforms in 2020, and brought to the Nintendo Switch later the same year.

In terms of presentation, Journey to the Savage Planet is an ambitious release for the Nintendo Switch, featuring a massive, detailed, imaginative, beautiful world full of strange creatures. This is conceptually a gorgeous game, and on a technical level it’s fairly impressive too. I don’t have the numbers on-hand, so I can’t say for sure, but I don’t doubt that the framerates and resolution are downgraded on Switch compared to other platforms, and I’ve even experienced a few brief framerate dips. There’s also fairly frequent pop-in, and texture pop-in. It doesn’t interfere with the gameplay very much, and it’s understandable given just how much this game is trying to do, but it’s still distracting

However, while this game has some issues on a technical level, in terms of it artistic vision, this is one of the best-looking games I’ve played on Nintendo Switch this year. This world is so very imaginative, from carnivorous plants with lawnmower-style rotating teeth that block off pathways until you can get the unsuspecting local wildlife to wander near enough to get sucked in and shredded, trees with beautiful blue foliage that bursts into a swarm of brilliant butterflies when you get near, bat-bird creatures that fling themselves at you like boomerangs when you walk into their territory… there were countless moments playing this game that I found myself admiring the game’s beauty or impressed with its creative ingenuity.

However, while the visuals are impressive, what is absolutely phenomenal is this game’s incredible sense of humor. Right from the start, it’s made clear that the cheerful presentation of the corporation you’re exploring this planet on behalf of is only a paper-thin veneer atop a complete disregard for your life, which is par for the course for a society seemingly overtaken by the worst tendencies of capitalism and consumerism, as indicated in optional E-Mails you can view and video advertisements and corporate communications that play on your ship’s screens.

However, even more than the cynically cheery corporate communications, this game’s humor is always with you in the form of the ship’s AI, constantly making snarky comments as you explore. “This creature thinks you’re going to kill it,” she observes after you scan a screaming lizard early into the game, “aww, how accurate!”, deciding on the fly to call a new alien substance “upgradium” (guess what you use it for), and so on. All of this is delivered with some truly excellent voice acting that really delivers on the friendly, patronizing, and simultaneously dismissive character this AI represents.

Your character isn’t humorless either. While your character never speaks, their interactions with the world around them often reflect a lot of personality, from losing their temper at a switch that isn’t working properly, to flashing themselves a thumbs up when they’re pleased with themselves. Early on, you’re asked to pick your character portrait, and just for fun, I picked a photo of a dog… and now, for the rest of the game, my character makes canine yips when taking damage, and pants loudly when exhausted from running.

The constant stream of funny content makes for a great motivator to keep pushing forward and see what’s the next fun discovery, though the game provides plenty enough motivation in the gameplay itself. This game is probably the closest thing we’ve ever gotten to Metroid Prime that hasn’t come from Nintendo itself, even with some of the same exploration-enabling power-ups like a double-jump and grappling hook.

This game also includes Metroid Prime’s scanning, which is a constant source of fun new quips from the AI, as well as a fun task for completionists. What’s more, the creativity in this game isn’t just reserved for character designs – some of the bosses in this game are really creative and challenging in ways I haven’t seen before, making fun and unique use of characters’ abilities. The result of all of this is a game that, at its best, feels very much like Metroid Prime if Metroid Prime wasn’t just fun, but had a great sense of humor too.

However, it bears mention that this game isn’t always at its best. This game also incorporates the lock-on from Metroid Prime, but it simply does not work well at all. Often the lock-on will refuse to register an enemy, and some enemies move so quickly and have such a small area of vulnerability that lock-on feels vital.

Another major frustration is that even though this game is definitely a Metroidvania, there is no in-game map, and the game absolutely needs it. You are given the ability to click in the right stick to ping the next spot you need to go to, but anyone who’s played a Metroidvania will be able to tell you this is a terrible tradeoff for a working map. Especially given this game’s strange and alien geography, a map feels essential here, and its absence is painful.

Finally, movement in this game is just sluggish. Your default movement speed is pretty slow, and running is limited by your stamina. In addition, those hoping that aiming will allow for gyroscopic motion control will find themselves disappointed, as it’s nowhere to be found.

I also need to take a moment to talk about this game’s co-op. While Metroidvanias aren’t generally known for co-op play, this game’s co-op is surprisingly good in a hands-off sorta’ way. Once two players opt to join a game together, they’re free to explore independently or together as they see fit – whatever upgrades one player finds the other will get as well, meaning that two players have the freedom to join together to fight a boss, or split up to cover more ground in their explorations.

While this is mostly a fantastic way to deliver co-op to the genre, it does have a few drawbacks. Firstly, the lack of a map means that there’s no way to know if you’re looking through an area the other player has already explored. Also, when you scan or find something interesting, the AI will make a clever quip to both of you, and it’s not always necessarily clear which player the comment was intended for, and the player that didn’t prompt the quip will be forever in the dark what the comment was in reference to. These aren’t game-breaking flaws, certainly, but they both make it a bit less enticing to split up.

Overall, there are clearly areas where Journey to the Savage Planet could be improved. Not only are there clear signs of a visual downgrade from other platforms, but the game is missing some basic features Metroidvanias absolutely require, and some of the features here are simply broken. Yet despite these clear flaws, this is one of the best games I’ve played this year. The imagination on display here, the great sense of humor, the inventive gameplay, the fantastic co-op… I love so very much about this game that I can forgive its flaws, and anyone who enjoys games that combine action and exploration should absolutely give this game a shot, especially if you’re one of those people frustrated that it’s taking so long to get Metroid Prime 4. This isn’t quite on the same level of Metroid Prime, but it’s surprisingly close.

tl;dr – Journey to the Savage Planet is a First-Person Metroidvania much in the same vein as Metroid Prime, but with a fantastic sense of humor and a really beautiful and inventive world to explore, as well as surprisingly good local wireless and online co-op. This game is definitely flawed, with various elements that don’t work or things that are desperately needed but missing, but even with these flaws, this is an absolutely incredible game that’s a must-play for Metroidvania fans.

Grade: A-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2020 Game Awards:

Winner:

Best RPG/Action-RPG – Nintendo Switch owners spent another year in 2020 waiting for Metroid Prime 4 in vain, but we got the next best thing in Journey to the Savage Planet, which combines the puzzles and exploration of Metroid Prime with a brilliant colorful world and a wicked sense of humor. No games in 2020 had me as delighted to explore their world, meet their characters, and empower myself to explore further than this game.

Funniest Game – This year more than last, there were a lot of contenders for this award, to the point where I was even tempted to split this category into games that make for hilarious multiplayer situations, such as Hidden in Plain Sight and Among Us, and games that have hilarious writing and content, such as the other games on this list. Ultimately, I decided to give this award to Journey to the Savage Planet, which uses a combination of outstanding writing, great voice acting, and fantastic live-action acting, as well as various environmental details, to deliver a hilarious experience that combines some of the humor of the Fallout series with stuff seemingly straight out of Futurama. Never before has the cold indifference of a distant corporation that my life depends on been as delightful as it is in this game.

Runner-Up: Game of the Year, Most Underrated, Best Voice Acting, Best Graphical Style, Best Graphics, Best Story

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